Report: Finally a cure for Squeaky OEM Brakes on LT?

[hallzee]

I bought a pristine '01 LT 8 months, and 9,000 miles ago; now at 18,000. Brakes have always been noisy. Dealer tells me that's the way the LT is, and to blow them out with air regularly.

I’d blow them out.... 10 miles later, sounds like my '56 VW squeaking to a stop.

Thanks to Zotter, I may have found the fix for OEM Rear Brakes! I have just had the rear pads replaced at 18,000 service, and per Zotter’s advice, I ‘bedded them in’. I have been on the new pads for a week (no trips yet, but about 300 miles into them), and absolutely silent.

I went from 60-10 mph about 8 times, as hard as I could without engaging ABS. Man, they were smokin' by the time I was done... (Safety Note: was on a deserted road).

Let 'em cool on a 10 minute ride, as directed. The key is to not come to a complete stop until they’ve cooled.

If this works for many miles, I am considering naming my next son ‘Zotter’! :D

Things to read up on that may help with proper 'bedding in':

How to bed in
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

Theory behind bedding in
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml

A handy bedding in guide for your service 'area' (word DOC format)
http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/attachm...achmentid=11576

[rockmw55422]

I've read on other posts about doing this, but I haven't taken the time to actually do it. I'm glad it worked for you, and I'm definitely going to give it a try!

[Zotter]

Way cool! Glad I stumbled across that. Here I was think'n it may have been the EBC disc and pads I put on my LT.

You bring good news indeed!

[hallzee]

Well, I should be honest... I am 48, so odds of having a son named Zotter are pretty slim... :o

[rjhammetter]

but I just got home from a 40-mile beat run. along the beginning of my trip, the squeaky brakes drove me nuts (same as always), so i decided to find a deserted road and heed the advice of this post. the links, the procedure, and the idea in general seemed very promising.

found my 55mph country road. 1st and 2nd gear only, up to 60, down to 10, 8-10 times (I lost count). :think:

results: for a while there afterward, life was good. no squeaking. finally, a solution? :dance:

10 min later - squeaking rear. 5 min after that - squeaking front.

the procedure was pretty fun! waste of gas revving it up and waste of brake pad material. i had those babies smokin. i could tell because they stunk... bad. i really harped on them to the point where i feared a sudden abs failure would lead to front lock up and me playing superman right over the handlebars. perhaps it was not so much that i didn't trust the abs to stop me, but the tires have their work cut out for them stopping 800lbs+200lbs as fast as possible.

may try it again in the future. not sure though, it was pretty dangerous, and in the end solved nothing. just a heads up for those of you who try it. i bet it's just a temporary solution to a permanent problem. would be interested to know if it worked for anyone else, and if so, how many miles after the procedure.

[messenger13]

EBCs on rear . . . silent as a mouse for 40K miles. Seemed like a good enough cure to me. And no need for rituals and/or incantations. Just ride it. :)

[KMC1]

Yikes! Sounds pretty scary man!
Try spraying a little WD 40 on them and see if that helps the squeak...... :p
If they're really squeaking bad and constantly, you're best bet is either to change the pads to a different material, or to try an anti-squeak / rattle compound on the pad backs.

[nobunaga]

Crap! i was really hoping that was going to be the solution. :mad:
Those squeaky brakes are a huge embarrassment. It's bad enough if you are riding an old beater bike, but to be pulling up to a stop light on a brand new BMW and have it sound like that... It just ain't right I tells ya!
It surprises me that BMW would not have a solution to this. It should be even more embarrassing to them than it is for us. Afterall, they ARE the maker of the machine. :mad:

[nobunaga]

Sorry Joe but what are EBCs?

[rjhammetter]

no prob :)
they are a replacement pad, along with carbone lorraine, that people try to stop the squeaking!!

try reading here:
http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=178757#post178757

apparently, there is nada single definite nor guaranteed solution. i took whoever's advice it was who said "just drown out the squeaking by turning up the music" :D

[dhendy]

Gee. I was just wondering today why my brakes have stopped squealing.

I think I do this everyday about 3 times a day in a few select places in my daily commute -- always thought I was just burning gas and brake pads.

[hallzee]

i feared a sudden abs failure would lead to front lock up and me playing superman right over the handlebars. perhaps it was not so much that i didn't trust the abs to stop me, but the tires have their work cut out for them stopping 800lbs+200lbs as fast as possible.

When I did my run, it was with brand new OEM pads. Also, I didn't use front brakes at all on stopping runs, so I had no fear of ABS throw-up...

2 weeks, and no squeaks for me. Never tried it on used pads though.

[Montycs]

When I picked up my LT the brakes were very noisy and the dealer changed them for me. All was well for about a week, then I saw all the posts here about the brakes so other then replacing brakes and rotors I decided to live with it until I needed new pads. Well as I was doing my canister takeoutadectomy, my friend who was helping noticed one of the clips holding the pad in was missing. He fashioned another and the brakes haven't squeeked once since then. I am sure there are other issues and maybe the dealer put in the brake pads that are recommended here, but so far the noise is not there.

[ez_rdr55]

My rear brake has always squeaked and had the cow bell. EBC pads did nothing to help. When I replaced the disc with an EBC and the pads with Gafner (sp) no more issues at all.

[jameswnw]

If you used BMW pads trust me the noise will be back! the fix is to use SBS Pads, these pads will make some light noise once and a while but nothing like the OE pad does.

[sparkchaser1200]

I have replaced my rotor and pads with EBC parts. I have 3000 miles + on the new set up and have had no noise at all.

Braking power is fantastic.

Also the original disc was not floating. It would stick on the mount and was the original cause of the problem.

My dealer would not warranty the replacement of the EBC, so I had to cover the cost of the repair myself. I make it a point to tell everyone that the EBC parts are far superior to the OEM, and that I not longer have brake noise from the rear.

I also noticed one thing. The LT is the only BMW in current production that has a solid, no holes, rear brake rotor. It has been my contention that the lack of holes can lead to glazing of the pads which can cause noise. The hold allow for brake dust removal on the fly.

Some have noted that the LT's caliper position is the cause. The original GT has a bottom mounted brake caliper, but it's disc has holes. I have heard of no cases of brake noise from GT's. Holes must make a difference.

[MSletten]

In a bitter reinforcement of the if-it-ain't-broke axiom, I made the colossal mistake of "fixing" the front brakes on my '05 LT with the anti-squeak compound I was putting on the rear brake. The front brakes weren't squeaking, but I didn't want them to start either...

Well, the squeak on the rear brake did go away, but now the front brakes squeak... loudly and continuously :mad:

Going down the road at 30 - 40 mph I hear a continuous, high-pitched sqeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee until I press the brake lever or hit a sharp bump. The noise will go away for a bit, but then come right back. If I don't press the lever the noise will continue for 10-15 seconds (seems like an eternity) then quit for a time. The noise is also speed independent, but wind/engine noise makes it much harder to hear at higher speeds. It seems the noise is worst when the brakes are cold.

I'm going to assume it's related to "bedding in" and go thru the pad removal/cleaning/bedding in procedure to attempt a cure. I'll post results here...

Stay tuned!

Mark

[MSletten]

Well, that didn't fix the problem... I'm tempted to take the front pads off and remove the anti-squeak compond.

Any thoughts?

Mark

[pushin9s]

//Quote//It surprises me that BMW would not have a solution to this. It should be even more embarrassing to them than it is for us. Afterall, they ARE the maker of the machine. ///End quote//

Hey, didn't you hear?? BMW farmed out the manufacture of the the running gear to YUGO when they upgraded to the 1200 motor. Part of that whole EU conundrum.

Be that as it may, my recently purchased 00 squealed so badly that it was an embarrassment...not to mention that the rear brake was even more useless than the one on my wheelbarrow. A thorough brake fluid flush (the old fluid looked like strong ice tea) and a new set of EBC pads fixed the problem immediately. The back brake works waaaaaaaay better now and in the last 5K since I did the brake service not a single second of squealing. That even includes a 1200 mile trip, two up, bags loaded. Of course, I still use the front brakes for 99% of stopping duty and the back brakes don't get much use.

[Dangerous2]

I bought my LT in June 06 and the rear brake squeal was embarrassing to say the least. I complained to the dealer that I bought the bike from. He replaced the pads and I have not heard a peep out of them since, which is about 12000 miles, so this just goes to prove that the pads are the problem and nothing else. Just my 2 pence worth!
Dave

[sparkchaser1200]

What pads did they use? My dealer was willing and did put new OEM pads on, did the champer, bedded them in, incatation dance the whole bit, but the noise came back.

I now have 3000+ miles on the new EBC set-up and the brakes work very well with no noise.

If there is a cheaper fix I would like the details.

[hallzee]

Mine were OEM BMW Pads. I've seen the dealer "bed them in". Usually a few hard stops out on front of the shop; not thorough enough. You really have to aggresively go at it. I am now many weeks, and 6,000 miles into it, and still no squeaks.

A lot of guys swear by the EBC's though...